One Last Wish in Vegas
by Total Vartan Lover
Summary: Updated 031005!The Montecito gets a request from the Last Wish foundation but that means chaos for casinos everywhere. Ed is not about to cause problems but will Danny listen to his boss, or make a move of his own?rnAn emotional chapter with sweet o'l Dan
1. Default Chapter

Hello all you LAS VEGAS fans! Yes, finally fanfiction decided to come up with a category for the hottest new show! YAY! I've been mulling this one over since Danny got dumped by Delinda so it's a while back, but, I think it's feasible! Please review and tell me what you think of it!!!  
  
This "One Last Wish," in the title is actually because in this fic, the Montecito is going to get a request of a child from the "One Last Wish Foundation," and they are going to~~~well, you'll see what happens. It's going to be cute!  
  
"One Last Wish in Vegas"  
  
Based on the NBC's "Las Vegas"  
  
Part I By: Total Vaughn Lover  
  
"Not a good afternoon for you, Danny?" Mary Connell teased her best friend, Danny McCoy as he arrived for his shift as protégé to the Security Chief of Montecito Casino, looking like he'd been staring into a toilet bowl that entire morning.  
  
"Yeah, worst hangover I've ever had, at least since the one I had after graduating from Basic training," Danny grimaced as he leaned against a solid pillar. "I still don't feel like I've gotten it all out of my system."  
  
"Poor baby," she crooned and placed her palm against his forehead. "No fever," she frowned. "Did you take any aspirin?"  
  
Danny shook his head.  
  
"Well maybe you should. I'll see if any of the "bar-ladies," have any," she offered, adjusting the straps to her cleavage-baring mini-dress. "I'm fresh out and I can't get out of here till at least eight tonight. The boss is actually agreeing with my idea of giving this place a little holiday spirit."  
  
"Holiday? Christmas isn't for three months, Mary."  
  
"I know. I'm talking about Halloween!"  
  
Danny fought hard to keep his gorgeous eyes from rolling back. "Haven't you had enough costume spirit with the whole King Arthur deal?" he teased her despite the headache that was itching to come on and make his day even more miserable.  
  
"You don't like it? I thought it would be cool, you know, have the "hookers," dress up as bunnies."  
  
Now Danny was going to roll his eyes. Didn't the hookers bare enough as it was? But his thoughts were distracted by a creative image of his mind of Delinde sporting a pair of fuzzy ears, an adorable tail and not much else. And when they were in the security of his no-camera room, she could reveal what was underneath all that.  
  
Only it wasn't going to happen. Delinde Deline, big Ed's daughter have proven to be more than her mother's good looks. And Delinde was no longer his girlfriend. But then he sort of wondered if they'd even been.  
  
Well now that that was over, he would learn to heed the blunt advice Mary had given him on the subject of his sleeping with his boss' daughter.don't.  
  
He came back to reality and the sight of Mary's big brown eyes, teasing, innocent and insecure in the same glance.  
  
"But hey, if that's what you want to do, go for it. Don't let me stop you, you're the Special Events Coordinator. Your job is to enlighten this place with your creativity, mine is to watch it and make sure everything goes off without a hitch," Danny shrugged then added in a serious note. "As long as I don't end up wearing a leotard and high heels."  
  
"Danny, I know you're thinking about her," Mary cut in accusingly. "Don't. She's the reason you felt you had to drink till you passed out."  
  
"I'm not," Danny lied then saw Big Ed's bodyguard appear over Mary's shoulder. "Hey listen, there's Ed's dog telling me I'd better be in his office in five minutes." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Okay, I'll try and have the aspirin by the time I see you on the floor again," Mary told him, earning him an appreciative glance from Danny.  
  
"Thanks Mary," he called back before he hurried up to the security room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Danny approached the door to the main surveillance room and was just about to go in when he saw a beautiful blond, wearing a slinky dress that hugged her perfect curves come strutting down the hall towards him, the sound of her stilleto heels echoed off the walls.  
  
Delinda Deline.  
  
Now Danny knew it was going to be a bad day.  
  
"Now how to let her know she hasn't torn me to shreds and that I was she who'd lost a good catch," Danny thought quickly to himself and decided the first he should do was straighten up, at least where his posture was concerned.  
  
"Hi Danny!" she chippered as she approached him, the moment he'd decided to look at her.  
  
"G~good morning, Delinda," he tried to say with as much enthusiasm but his voice came out sounding hard and gruff.  
  
"Uh yeah, good morning," she replied, mocking the up-tight security protégé who really seemed to believe that she believed he was over her. "Lighten up Danny, if I'd known you would go all crazy on me, I would have made sure you had a different girl before I dumped you."  
  
"Heedlessly threw away my heart is more like it!" he thought to himself, cursing himself for still having feelings for her. Just one look into her beautiful blue eyes and his brain turned to mush. Well what else was new?  
  
"No, I'm actually doing pretty good. So, don't' worry about me. I'll bounce back, just maybe not tonight. I think I'm going to lay low, I'm not too keen on making another mistake that'll cost me my heart," Danny boasted, but limited himself from gloating.  
  
Delinda began chuckling that little chuckle that always made his knees go out. "It's too late to be modest, Danny," she teased him, pulling on his tie. She was so close to him he could feel her breath on his cheek. "Your best friend told me how bummed out you are."  
  
"Oh she did, did she?"  
  
"I~I got dumped by a very beautiful girl who I really did have feelings for. And to make it worse, who's father happens to be my boss and would probably threaten me with castration and send the remains to my father," Danny pointed out, leaning against the wall, trying not to relish in the fact that any passer-by that saw them right now would have to think that it was she who wanted him back. She was the one standing in her current seductive position. She was practically riding his leg. "But I'm over it now, really, so you go on now, go and find the right one for you."  
  
"Or your flavor of the week," he almost couldn't help but adding.  
  
"That's so sweet, Danny," Delinda crooned and pulled him to her and kissed him full on the mouth before he knew what was happening. "And I do hope you're okay, especially after that monstrous hangover you had."  
  
This comment actually got on Danny's last nerve. "What did you do? Go snooping around, finding out about me from my best friend?" he demanded, folding his arms. He would have considered pushing her away if he knew that her father wasn't watching him as things were happening. "And exactly what did you threaten her with? She's loyal to me, I know our friendship means a lot to her so she wouldn't say anything if you didn't do something." Then he became quiet and added, "you didn't happen to threaten to take away her job, did you? Because believe it or not, even after that King Arthur nightmare, she really is having a hell of a time."  
  
"Au Contraire, McCoy," she giggled and Danny felt that any moment now he was going to lose his dignity. "She came up to me asking me if I had aspirin for her best friend who'd finally left the bathroom. And all of MonteCito knows who Mary's best friend is~~~ you."  
  
Danny closed his eyes from embarrassment, not wanting to let her see how he was reacting. He would have preferred to look straight into her eyes and not give her the satisfaction of seeing him squirm but hey, you couldn't have everything.  
  
Note to self: Get Mary Conell for making his life even more miserable.  
  
Yeah, he did need something for his headache, bad, but going to Delinda made him look pathetically desperate. Ironic she would even offer him the aspirin when it was this beautiful siren that had pushed him to drink the past evening.  
  
"I asked her to ask her friends," Danny put in coldly, his mouth becoming a tight line.  
"And you didn't think we were? Come on, Danny. Mary is pretty enough to have plenty of guy friends but she's got girlfriends, in me, Sam and Nessa. And you know what, I think I moved up on her list, dating you," Delinda added. "She's all about being there for you, Danny."  
  
Oh yeah. That was probably true. Not! He'd seen how jealous Mary had become when she'd found out that he'd slept with someone who wasn't her. Could Delinda really be that naïve?  
  
"And I don't thank her enough for that," Danny quipped, though it was an honest comment, and made his body go rigid to give Delinda a hint.  
  
"Well, I told Dad and he was very happy about it," Delinda informed him, rolling her eyes.  
  
Danny surprised her by saying, "good," like he was happy about himself.  
  
Delinda actually stepped back, looking shocked, hurting filled her beautiful light eyes. Now they were having an awkward silence. In a minute or two, this would all be over.  
  
"Well, I guess you'd better get going. You know how daddy is when you're late."  
  
"Yeah," Danny replied, haughtily. "And I'm sure the Casino floor is filled with new fish, waiting for you to lure them in like you did with me."  
  
Delinda didn't say anything as though pretending she hadn't heard his last comment. She began walking off.  
  
Danny let out a sigh and looked into the camera that adjusted to pan down on his face to identify him when the blond paused in midstep, turned around and he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"W~we're still going to be friends, right Danny?"  
  
That "friends," line that women were convinced made the breakup a little easier to deal with, not knowing that men actually detested the line and hearing it actually made them more reluctant to remain friends.  
  
But she was too adorable. She was actually staring at him, biting her lip, waiting for him to acknowledge her and provide her with an honest answer. Face it, Danny McCoy wasn't god's gift to man but he knew that he wasn't bad looking and he was a self-named lady's man.  
  
"Uh~~~sure, of course."  
  
"Great," she chittered, flashing him a model perfect smile. "I'm really glad you're being mature about this, despite how I dropped you which was real immature. I was really wondering how I should approach you after I let you down like that, if we had to meet again. I mean the more Big Ed likes you, the more likely it is that you're become a family friend and then~~~you'll turn into a boy-version of Nessa, if you know what I mean."  
  
"A boy-version of a girl?"  
  
"No. This freaky thing where he starts to like the children of his friends as his own, forgetting that he actually has a daughter who really does love him , just doesn't know how to show it, like I am with most guys," Delinda explained. Danny noticed her voice cracked and tears were starting to pool in her long dark lashes.  
  
"Hey, hey," Danny crooned, walking up to her, trying to be respectful and not stare down her dress at her obvious cleavage. "Nobody can replace you, you're amazing," he replied, "that's why I love you."  
  
Delinda raised an eyebrow at him and then Danny remembered that he and Delinda were now non-existent.  
  
"T~thanks Danny," she murmured and held him in her arms for a moment, taking in the smell of his cologne and aftershave that had aroused her the moment she'd met him. She then wiped her eyes and pulled back before she could fall for him all over again. She straightened his tie and then patted him on the shoulder after smiling into the camera at her father who she knew was always watching. "Hope you get that aspirin, Danny. Tell me if my father gives you any grief."  
  
"Right, the aspirin."  
  
Danny watched her walk away until he couldn't see not a sliver of her dress and then he shook his head hard, trying to get rid of the osculating thoughts that had resurfaced during that almost-embrace then when he was sure there was no way Big Ed could accuse him of anything, he walked over to the door and checked himself in for duty.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So what did you think? Think I should continue? Things are about to get a little more interesting and in the next chapter you'll find out why I called this "One Last Wish in Vegas!"  
  
Please review! Leave me an e-mail if you want to be notified when it's updated!!!  
  
Total Vaughn Lover 


	2. Part II

One Last Wish in Vegas~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Total Vaughn Lover  
  
A/N: Thanks to the three people who reviewed! Thanks so much! I hope you'll like this more in the next part! It's not going to be Delinda and Danny, it's actually going to be with the young girl with the dying wish! You'll see!!!!!  
  
Without further ado~~~~~~  
  
Part II  
  
"No more mail!" Ed Deline a.k.a Big Ed shouted, slamming his fist on his nice executive desk in his office that overlooked all of the security floor. "And no more question concerning that letter!" he bellowed, his blue eyes flashing with an obsessive rage.  
  
"But sir, it's a death wish, if you will just," the consultant was trying to reason. "What do you think it would look like if the Montecito was in the papers blaring that the casino will let girls who bare everything in but cannot grant the wish of a dying child?"  
  
"And what do you think will happen if word goes out that we're letting kids into casinos? It'll be an outrage. There is a reason why Las Vegas is called "Sin City!" Ed retorted in as calm a tone as he possibly could hold with the consultant who was riding his last nerve.  
  
The consultant and Ed stared hard at each other for about five minutes. It was evident that this man didn't know Ed, if he had he would have known that reasoning with him was a waste of time.  
  
"I~I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Deline," the consultant mourned, shaking his head sadly as he rose from his seat. He gave the head of security a sad glance then finally left the office, slamming the glass door behind him. However Ed didn't even cringe.  
  
Danny was currently hurrying up the stairs, trying not to wallow in the points he'd won with Delinda. Man, that was probably the first time in Montecito history that a guy had actually made the girl want to be friends with him. Yeah, yeah, he was feeling pretty high on himself for the first time that morning. He was so high in his element that he didn't notice the depressed figure of his old childhood friend that was slowly descending the stairs.  
  
"Good morning, Danny," the consultant greeted in a grave tone, still fresh from the pain and disappointment he'd experienced in being pushed out of Ed's little glass walled-in office.  
  
"Good morning, Chip," he greeted the young man, Chip Hefter. "What brings you to the Montecito so early in the morning? And to security?"  
  
"I'm part of the Last Wish Foundation now, have been for eight months now. I represent anybody in the Las Vegas area," he informed Danny who brought himself to a strict posture and folded his hands.  
  
"As you were, Danny," he chuckled when he saw that not an ounce of positiveness lingered on his friend's expression.  
  
"No. I'm just trying to pay my respects. I mean if you're here, that means that you've come with someone's request to do something with our casino before they~~~uh, pass on," Danny grimaced, not sure what the appropriate term was for death situations. But he had enough sense in himself to know that "hit the bucket," wasn't one of them. "And I'm sure the Montecito would love to be of assistance."  
  
"Well, the casino part was okay with it, but they told me I had to clear security," he piped up then his smile fell into a frown. "And that's where I came to a dead end."  
  
"What? What do you mean by that?" Danny demanded, half chuckling, thinking there had to be a mistake.  
  
"Exactly what I said. Security denied it."  
  
Danny adopted a look of deep concern. After his mother had died, he'd found a notebook she'd kept, listing a bunch of things she'd wanted to do before she'd had to go and now as vengeance for his mother, he tried to make every effort to make sure those kind of wishes were granted. He folded his arms and leaned it. "I'm the protégé to Big Ed, maybe I can get you a meeting with the head honcho, no one says no to Ed."  
  
"That won't do any good," Danny's friend mumbled as he started up the stairs. Danny paused in step and shot his friend a glance. "I was just in to talk to him, he gave me the big no."  
  
"B~Big Ed gave you the big no?" Danny confirmed with him. His friend nodded solemnly. He also looked a bit like he would have loved to punch big Ed in the face. "I wonder why. He's got a daughter himself. He can be pretty intimidating but~~~he's not heartless."  
  
"At least, I think," Danny added as a mental note to himself.  
  
"Then can you try talking to him for me? She's supposed to be hitting her eighteenth birthday very soon but the doctors are doubting she's going to make it~~~that long," he mourned, looking very sad.  
  
Danny was about to nod and do everything in his power to help him but he stopped himself when he heard the bit about her not being eighteen. "She hasn't hit eighteen?"  
His friend nodded his head to confirm it. And now Danny had some rethinking to do. Now he knew why Big Ed hadn't let it go, she was underage. Oh god, he was definitely going to need aspirin now. Danny put a hand to his forehead, that also covered his tear-filled eyes.  
  
"Danny~~~I know how this sounds but, before you shut me out, think about the girl. Please, Danny McCoy. She doesn't deserve to be sick and if I had the power to make sure she made it I wouldn't say anything."  
  
"I know," Danny cut in, his voice coming out a bit more harsh than he'd intended. "How shy is she is of eighteen?" he asked then, trying to be understanding.  
  
"T~two weeks."  
  
Danny bit his lip. He really didn't like what he was about to say but he really didn't know what he was going to say to Ed to make him change his mind. He was already in for a deep conversation regarding what he'd done to make his daughter dump him.  
  
"A~are you absolutely sure that she can't hold out till then?"  
  
Danny couldn't believe he'd actually said that. Neither could his friend. "Danny, what kind of question is that? Of course we're always going to be optimistic, we're trying to believe she'll just miraculously pull out of this but~~~she's getting drastically worse and me and her parents think it's time that her wish be granted, before it's too late."  
  
Danny shook his blond head, very disappointed with himself. He admired his friend for not beating him to a pulp for being a jack ass who was concerned more about what would happen to him and not about the young girl who'd just been caught in an unlucky situation.  
  
"I understand," Danny corrected himself immediately then averted his glance to the daunting glass door that led to his probably unhappy boss's room. "I~~I, I wasn't thinking. Of course I'm going to try and get this girl her wish. Let me see what kind of strings I can pull with Ed. I'm assuming that you'll be around so I can get back in contact with you."  
  
"Of course," he beamed as he handed his childhood friend an official looking card. "Thank you, Danny."  
  
"Don't' thank me yet. I can't promise you anything," Danny warned him, not wanting to be responsible for letting him down later  
  
"It's tine, as long as I know you've tried, the family is not going to stop thanking you for this," he cried and Danny gingerly reached out his arm to pat him on the back. He was sure glad he didn't have his job. He'd probably be okay until he actually had to watch the kid die, thanking him for getting him his last trip to Disneyland, a meet with his favorite baseball player, whatever it was. His friend had been a crack user back in highschool, it amazed him how much more mature he'd become and Danny found himself drowning in admiration.  
  
Finally the "One Wish," guy left and Danny shot up the stairs. He then paused to take a composing breath and then entered the room, where Big Ed was studying a screen, his back to his protégé.  
  
"Ed?"  
  
"NO MAIL!" Big Ed shouted suddenly and he whirled around in his chair at record speed and threw a glass against the door. Danny shielded himself by ducking under the chair that he'd practically named his own since he was in here so much of the time.  
  
"Not mail, Ed. Just your protégé checking into work," Danny assured him, peeking over the chair at his boss, wanting to make sure the coast was clear before he stood up.  
  
"Danny!"  
  
"Is it safe to join you?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, come on in," Ed urged him and Danny felt like Big Ed sounded a bit too happy. To see him, at least.  
  
Danny tentatively stood up and then scooted back, careful not to screw up his leather shoes by avoiding the shards of glass. He immediately put a call in for a custodian to stand by so he'd be readily available when he needed him then shoved his cell phone into his pocket and folded his arms. "You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Oh yeah, yeah," Ed confirmed, slapping his forehead as though that action fixed his momentary memory lapse. "Well, it wasn't urgent really. Just wanted to make sure you were at work."  
  
"Uh huh," he stammered as he dusted off the leather seat and lowered himself onto it.  
  
"First off Danny, I~ I'm sorry about you and Delinda," Big Ed lamented, actually bowing his head for emphasis.  
  
"She told you," he chuckled, crossing his leg over one knee and cocked his head back as if to say "thanks God for making my life even more miserable, I owe you one!"  
  
"First thing this morning," he exclaimed, looking very pleased with himself. Danny had to control himself not to throw a punch or challenge his boss to a fist fight he knew he wouldn't win. "But she does this all the time. Try not to think about it. And besides, you two weren't~~~"  
  
"Right for each other?" Danny finished for him. "I know. She gave me the "I'm great, above average," speech. But if you really don't' want me to think about it, let's change the subject."  
  
Big Ed was visibly shocked by his employee's directness but let it go, this time. "Fair enough," his boss agreed then before allowing Danny any input, he jumped into a list he'd created in his memory. "Now Danny, today I want you to watch the black jack table, there's going to be that European international champion thing going on and we also have a big time V.I.P coming in on top of that and Sam wants added security."  
  
"Would that be the girl?" Danny blurted out and a second later he realized he couldn't have mentioned it at a worse time.  
  
"Excuse me? Who is this girl you would be talking about?"  
  
"The girl, you know the one from the "Last Wish Foundation," Danny prompted, "I know you couldn't have been serious about not letting the Montecito grant one tiny wish."  
  
He yiped as he ducked to keep from being smacked by the champagne glass that his boss was aiming at his head. "Ed! What's the big idea?"  
  
"I~~~don't~~~want~~~to~~~hear~~~another~~~word~~~of~~~that, Danny," he said slowly so that there couldn't be any mistake of his protégé understanding it word for word.  
  
But Danny wasn't going to let it go that easy. "S~she's dying, Ed. I know you heard the story, my friend already told me he was in to see you."  
  
"Did he also mention that I said no?"  
  
Danny nodded. "But come on, I really don't' think it'd be unreasonable to let her in. I think in fact the Montecito should be honored that she'd chosen us as the last place she wanted to be in her life."  
  
"Danny McCoy, do you know what will happen if we let in one underage child? Hell is going to wreak havoc, that's what!"  
  
"I~I'm willing to take the risk, Ed. She's seventeen but she's almost eighteen. She's lucky if she lost her virginity and I don't think any seventeen year old should go into the ground without experiencing all of life's sweetness," Danny argued, holding his own.  
  
"Are you saying that you would drop your security position for a day to become a host to this girl if I let her in?" Ed asked carefully, folding his hands before him on his desk.  
  
"If you would let me, yes."  
  
Ed looked for a second as though he were considering this as an option which made Danny's heart pound harder. Yes! He was going to make a difference, something good was going to happen today. "Well Danny, you would be required to do everything the girl bids, after all, like you so sweetly mentioned, this would be her last wish and your job would be to grant her it, every one of them."  
  
"I understand," Danny beamed as he got to his feet, ready to go down to the casino floor and tell his friend the good news. "So is this an okay?"  
  
"NO."  
  
Danny was sure he'd been hit so hard he hadn't seen it coming. "No? But I thought~~~"  
  
"You thought wrong. Danny, I can't afford to cause his chaos. We have enough on our hands looking for cheaters and smashing scams so we can keep our jobs. We don't have time to be making wishes come true, and definitely no time to be babysitting!"  
  
There was an awkward pause that followed that outburst where they both stared at each other. Danny finally stared down at the ground and mumbled, "Fine."  
  
"Fine," Ed repeated, thinking he'd agreed all too easily. He watched Danny head for the door the way an owl watched the mouse he was about to pounce on.  
  
"I'll do it on my day off," Danny informed him which made Ed stand up, hobble over to Danny, grab him roughly by the collar and dropped him down in his former seat. 'Ed, you got issues today. What's the big idea?"  
  
"Did you not hear what I said?"  
  
"Of course I did. And while I'm on schedule I will adhere to every word you say~~~except that part about not dating your daughter but~~~I didn't know," he began ranting.  
  
"Stop it right now unless you want me to get really upset with you Danny. Now listen to me. Even if you are off-duty, it doesn't change the fact that you would be bringing in an underage girl into the casino and you can't do that whether you wanted to or not. It's the law."  
  
"It's also the law that you cannot threaten bodily harm to someone," Danny cursed under his breath and was thankful Ed didn't hear it. Instead he put on a concerned expression. "I can probably find someone to fix her up with a fake I.D."  
  
"Danny, your job is to bust people who sell fake I.D.s!"  
  
"Yeah, but can't I just buy one off of them, and you know strike a deal like, you let me make one and I won't send you to jail today, but come around tomorrow and you'll wish you didn't," Danny proposed, not letting up.  
  
"No, Danny."  
  
"Come on, I've seen you do it before."  
  
"No Danny!"  
  
"Ed!" Danny finally shouted which actually also meant him pushing Ed down into his seat and leaning towards him with his knuckles on the table. "I now that you've got a heart somewhere under all that muscle mass. Imagine if it was Delinda. How would you feel if the Casino you worked with wouldn't let you pull strings with them to get your daughter her dying wish?"  
  
Ed let out a low dark chuckle. "You really think making this personal for me is going to get you anywhere?"  
  
"No because you'd probably threaten them bodily harm if they crossed you," Danny said dryly, wearing that smart ass expression he used to guilt trip his boss.  
  
Ed detested it immensely.  
  
The scene was just about to get very ugly but fortunately one of the security guys broke into the room at the right time. They were both informed that there was some interesting movement on the entrance camera.  
  
Ed pulled on his jacket and walked ahead of Danny, only he got stopped with him blocking the door with his arm. "Come on, just one favor. I've been nothing but loyal to you and I've been mum about your death threats."  
  
Unfortunately Ed had put up an invisible wall, the wall he placed before him to block out Delinda's nonsense chatter about why she strongly felt her daddy should buy her every little thing she desires, or his wonderful wife constantly nagging him to lighten up at family gatherings.  
  
Danny sighed as he followed Ed out into the main security room located just below their level. Things hadn't gone like he'd thought, and he suddenly felt he'd ruined every chance of getting Ed to do anything for him by acting the way he had. He hung his head as they stood and watched the screen in question.  
  
Mike Cannon was an the entrance doing his job as the best valet at the MonteCito. He waved off a V.I.P as he went through the casino doors.  
  
"Enjoy your stay, Mr. Bellargino!" he hollered in his thick "from the ghetto," accent.  
  
"Thanks, Mike," the Italian business man called back as he threw him a nice green bill.  
  
Danny stared at the screen and gave Ed a sideway glance. "Isn't Mr. Bellargino one of our biggest players? One of our normal players?"  
  
"Quiet," Ed hushed him, still staring at the screen and Danny rolled his eyes but turned back to watch the scene just in case Ed's instincts were right on the mark as they usually were.  
  
Mike slapped a high-five to one of his fellow valets, chided the slow bellboy to hurry it up with their V.I.P's luggage. Then he saw the sleek and very good mannered Mike sigh as he went over to greet a family of three. It was evident in the way he moved that he'd met them before and they weren't high on his favorite list.  
  
"Sir, Mam, like I have already explained to you, you two may enter the gaming area but the little one might not enjoy it very much. I mean, drunks, hookers, extreme display of PDA and streakers. No, your little girl doesn't need to know about that behavior for at least another ten years."  
  
"I understand, but couldn't you make an exception in this case?" the "Mother," purred, actually flirting with the valet despite knowing her husband was standing right there.  
  
"I~I'm sorry but no can do. What I can do though is get our casino host Samantha Jane to get set you up with a nice suite and you can take turns playing the games and then later you can enjoy find dining at our own club Mystique and I'm sure if you give her just a little tip, she'd be glad to watch the little one for a few hours," Mike offered, flashing his million dollar smile.  
  
Danny found himself grinning. He was sure Mike had been a salesman in his past life.  
  
"Oh that's a most generous offer," the husband exclaimed as he took the card, exchanging glances with his suddenly equally exuberant wife.'  
Unfortunately their daughter didn't seem too pleased with Montecito's generosity and made that clear by gibing off a big wail and began stomping her feet.  
  
Danny watched Mike comfort the child and shook his head. They were concentrating on a crying child? What was Ed thinking? He had to be wrong this time. He could be monitoring the big event going on at Nessa's table or order a close up of the restaurant where sexy Delinda would be working.  
  
Oh! And here comes the migraine.  
  
"Danny, I think they're pulling something," Ed told his partner with that "owl on prey," eye.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah. I've got this really hot instinct that they're creating a diversion."  
  
Danny stared at the scene and rolled his eyes. "To do what exactly?"  
  
Ed looked as though he were stumped for a moment but then he said in a very oily voice, "why don't you go down there and find out? And on the way you can go see how Nessa is doing at her table."  
  
Danny still looked skeptical about wasting his time going after one of his bosses' hunches but he wanted to keep his job. He nodded to him, straightened his jacket then headed for the door.  
  
"Oh, and it might be a good idea to go see Mike. He might report that they're being suspicious," the head of security hollered after his very ill- looking protégé.  
  
"Or demand of me why I'm slacking off instead of bringing down the bit time roller who's been too lucky at the poker table on camera 87," he thought to himself but he went anyway, willing to do almost anything to get away from Ed's scrutinizing eye  
  
Ed watched satisfied then returned his eye to the screen, now sporting a furrowed brow. If Danny had watched him just a bit longer, he would have figured out that Ed actually did know what was up.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So what did ya'll think? Let me know by leaving me a review! Remember more feedback means faster reviews! Thanks, hope to hear from you soon and see ya at next update!!!  
  
Total Vaughn Lover 


	3. Part III

One Last Wish in Vegas~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Total Vaughn Lover  
  
A/N: SO SORRY I HAVEN"T UPDATED IN FOREVER, hope you will forgive me! Thanks to the six people who reviewed! Thanks so much! I hope you'll like this more in the next part! More of your familiar characters show up, and things are about to get very~~strange. Keep reviewing and I'll definitely update again  
  
Without further ado~~~~~~  
  
Part III  
  
Danny rushed down the stairs as quickly as he could, pulling up the waist band of his nicely ironed slacks as he did. He sighed, even having a six pack didn't help him find a good fit for his other wise model thin figure, which meant his pants were always a bit baggy and the hem of his pants had a tendency of dragging on the floor, a fashion faux pas that Ed and his daughter always took note of, very unprofessional. Not to mention the possibility of him falling on his face if he ever had to go after a fast-running criminal was even higher than if her were just plain clumsy. So he knew he had to have them hemmed, but unfortunately he never had the time being on Ed's clock and his girlfriend had now turned into an ex, and even if she was still seeing him, that didn't really help matters any since she was not an avid seamstress.  
  
He hurried past other security men commiserating in the hallway and then nonchalantly exited a door that was actually not visible to the gaming floor since it was secluded in the wall. He looked into the camera that shot the area directly outside of him and then used the exit as soon as the coast was clear and then hurried over to the gaming floor.  
  
He only hoped Mike would have good news for him. He'd already gotten on the bad side of Ed with the whole last wish thing and he really didn't feel like staying anymore hours than he needed to.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Danny stopped in his tracks when he felt a huge load jump onto his back and lock the heels to her boots into his sides. He cringed but refrained from elbowing her and waited for her to get off. He knew who it was, nobody else would dare to do such an unrespectable thing, no one else lived to tease and taunt him every chance she got.  
  
Okay, they did, but Samantha Jane's methods were to put in simply: unique.  
  
"Sam," Danny said dryly, trying to look at the beautiful casino hostess out of the corner of his eye, trying to keep up his all business expression. "Didn't you see coming, which is the norm."  
  
"I know. I just have this element of surprise to me, don't I!" Sam giggled like the time when she'd acted as a very blond reception when he'd gone by to find a whale named Sam at a near by casino who was stealing their whales. He rolled his beautiful eyes as Samantha gave him a very wet smooch on the cheekbone before plopping off.  
  
"Ugh!" Danny grimaced as he back off and laid a hand on his cheek to rub off whatever she'd put there. "Sam, did you have to do that?"  
  
"Don't sound so disappointed," Sam teased back, doing a perfect imitation of Delinda Deline. Danny gave her a look that was a mixture of disbelief and even more disgust. No, not this, not now. Not from Sam! "I'm sorry Mr. McCoy, I thought you would feel better about that whole situation with Ms. Deline if you knew you were still worthy of receiving a kiss from a female life form. You're our best security man here and we don't need you having another bad hangover," she continued in a taunting tone, mischief lurking within her shining brown eyes, her glossed lips pulled into a radiant but sarcastic smile that she somehow made look very genuine. "Though I'm not as raunchy as Delinda who I heard gave you tongue at the dinner table, right smack in front of her father, which would be~~~your boss."  
  
Danny just stared at her, anger and irritation growing within his being. "Sam, what, don't you have anything better to do then get into my business by luring it out of my best friend?" he demanded, his eyes narrowed and his mouth a tight line. "Or are you and Mary already friends too?"  
  
Sam just gave him a grin that really didn't say anything at all.  
  
God, he hated when woman assumed guys could read lips that didn't even move. It was almost as bad as hearing the "we can be friends," line after breaking up with a very sexy girl who looked like she'd just come off the runway.  
  
"Fine, don't answer me then. I guess I just have to accept that my romance life is on public display as long as I'm friends with Mary Connell," he sighed, looking very bothered. Sam had a way of getting under his skin and he didn't know why. But it was starting to bother him, a lot.  
  
"Well, I am so sorry that you think so low of me. I guess you don't' want to be friends with me anymore," a cold female voice interjected, and Danny felt shivers go down his spine, as though she were the ice queen and her breath could literally freeze the soul of him.  
  
Danny had a second to register Sam's teasing expression before he realized what else was going on behind him and turned around, only to see Mary who gave him half a sad glance and began stalking off, giving him the back bone.  
  
He didn't give Sam an explanation or even a glance and went after his best friend who had one hand up to her face, carefully wiping tears away so as not to smudge her mascara. He shot out his arms and twirled her so he could hold her before she went off to casino parts unknown and murmured, "Mary, sweetie. I'm sorry, honey, I didn't want you to hear that. I mean, I didn't mean to word it like that."  
  
"Well~you did, Danny," she told him crisply, thought half of her was relieved that he had cared enough about her to come after her and capture her in his heavenly embrace.  
  
"I know, it's just," he pulled his head back just enough so he could glance back and gestured to Sam with his head. She was standing there in her nice form-fitting black pants and white halter top, looking bored. She came to life and waved at Mary when she caught her pal looking at her. Mary tossed one back and then gave her best male friend a half-smile. "She knows I'm having a bad day, as the rest of the casino probably does, and you know Sam, especially Sam~~~she likes to rub things in and make them worse than they really started out to be."  
  
Mary could argue with that. Samantha did like getting Danny into trouble, or strike a sensitive nerve. It was known throughout the girls, Delinda, Sam, Mary and herself that she took advantage of any opportunity to take a verbal jab at him. And she would never admit it but she couldn't help but think that Sam wouldn't do that unless she was actually secretly falling in love with her lifetime crush. And as beautiful as Sam was, she just didn't think she could compete.  
  
"Mary? I'm very sorry, you know you're my best friend and you're all I've got right now. You will forgive me, wont' you?" Danny said, breaking into her thoughts, and immediately all her concerns and doubts were erased and all she could see was Danny with his passion-filled hazel eyes, pursed lips and raised eyebrow.  
  
She tried to give him a hard stare to let him know he couldn't just do what he did and get away with it but she found she couldn't hold it up the moment she gazed into his suddenly green-looking eyes that were filled with genuine concern. He was giving her an honest apology and he deserved points for that.  
  
She made him wait a moment longer than said, "Y~yeah, of course, Danny. I don't' think I've ever been really able to stay mad at you for long. I am to blame for talking to Sam in the first place."  
  
"N~no," he objected immediately, brushing her shiny red strands behind her ears. "They're your friends and I know girl friend talk, about everything, including what hell your best friend is going through. It's not your fault that Sam can't get off wanting to make my life miserable."  
  
Mary felt heat creep into her cheeks and for that moment, the rest of the casino floor disappeared and all she knew was she was there with Danny, nothing else mattered. "Aww, Danny, your understanding is going to make me blush," she complained as he put a hand to her rosy cheeks.  
  
"I don't' mind," he shrugged, tossing her a boyish grin. Then they were back to being on the gaming floor and the sounds of slots and cheering from near by poker tables filled their once heavenly silence. Danny looked as though he'd just caught himself from doing something he'd wanted strongly to do and Mary couldn't help but wonder what that was. She decided against asking him, not sure if she wanted to know then created a diversion as she placed a small bottle in her hand, his gaze followed her.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"The aspirin," she informed him with half a grin. "I got one of my girls to switch twenty minutes of their shift with me and I swigged it from the first convenient store I could find. Though you don't' seem to need it anymore, the color is even returning to your cheeks," she added, half disappointed as she pinched his supple cheeks.  
  
"You must have cured me just because your concern and devotion for me is so deep, Mary," Danny proposed then took hold of her hands, pushed them away from his face and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Mary, for always being there for me."  
  
Mary felt herself going back into the day dream land where she went so frequently she had already a married life and three kids, and two dogs running in a nice big backyard, all with Danny but stopped herself. Danny cared about her but at this time she didn't know how he really thought of her and divulging that information might make things a bit~~~weird. "Y~Yeah, sure."  
  
There was an awkward silence and Danny was the one to break it with his usual way. "Well, I've actually got to run. Seems like we have someone trying to break in and I'm sure Ed's just itching to give me a phone call and make sure that I'm on top of things."  
  
"Break in?" Mary scoffed, looking around the gaming floor. "How does that happen in a casino?" She knew security was tight but all their doors were open, heck they were practically a resort and they welcomed people in.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure myself, as always Ed doesn't say much of anything, only that he has a hunch," Danny sighed, but looked around in habit, he knew Ed was probably able to hear everything and anything he said, especially if he didn't want him to hear it. "Tell you the truth I watched the same screen and personally, I think it's a joke and that this is a waste of our time but Ed is certain something is going to go down. The only thing I can hope for is that I am right and this time I'll be able to prove it by checking it out and showing him that nothing is happening."  
  
Mary chuckled. "Oh well, nobody says no to Ed." She dabbed her finger on her tongue then slicked down a strand that was curling out of place. "And he's been in the business longer than you have, as well as the most prestigious intelligence agency of the world."  
  
She was referring to Ed Deline's career in the CIA.  
  
"I know," he said with another sigh, knowing that Mary was right. As usual.  
  
"But, he's also been around long enough to know who's good at what he does and you, Mr. Protégé, you are definitely good at what you do and you have an excellent track record to prove it."  
  
Danny gave Mary one of those, "yeah, right," laughs. But it felt good nonetheless, knowing that if he ever needed an ego boost he just had to come to his best friend who always knew exactly what to say. "Thanks for the medicine, Mary, and for being the only female trying to make my day better and succeeding."  
  
Mary grinned. "Anytime, Danny."  
  
What he said next made that grin even bigger. "In fact, after I'm done with this case~~~I'm going to come and find you for a "thank you best friend," lunch. And it's on me so you know I mean it."  
  
Mary's bright brown eyes shined hopefully at her handsome childhood friend who just got better looking each day. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah," Danny promised with a smile. But when Mary didn't reply he paused to add, 'unless of course, you have other plans."  
  
"No!" she said a bit too energetically which was perfectly fine with Danny but made her feel just a tad embarrassed and felt a bit too revealing. "I mean, of course I'd love to go with you." Since I've been trying to for weeks, she added to herself, wondering if Danny had finally picked up on the subtle hints she'd been dropping for weeks.  
  
Danny smiled as if to say, "great, it's a date then."  
  
"It's just, are you sure you can keep it down?" she teased him, her expression half-serious, worried about Danny's present hang over condition.  
  
To reply to this, Danny gave her a glance that made women feel they were the queens of his world, and for Mary, it gave her the extra oomph she needed, just by knowing that Danny was HER best friend. "Since this is a lunch to pay back for all the times I missed out on, I am certainly going to try."  
  
Aww, Danny was so sweet. No wonder she loved him.  
  
"So, let me go and take care of what Ed wants me to do and then, I will see you, later," he said with a lot of innuendo, leaving Mary feeling that confusion of whether he liked her as a friend or ~~~more.  
  
"O~Okay," she beamed, flashing a million-watt smile and Danny was sure she was standing taller as she stalked off to take care of her business so she could go to lunch with him as well.  
  
"So, guess you swung by Mary," Sam cooed behind him as she joined in step with Danny who was giving her the "Leave me alone," vibe. If she had been a guy, he would have gladly introduced her to the "leave me alone," fist.  
  
"Come on Danny. Your flattery won her over, congratulations," she chirruped. Danny would have acknowledged her if he'd had an inkling that she was being genuine.  
  
"Yeah, thanks," Danny murmured, despite his better judgment.  
  
"Hey if you actually try, you might get a date with some other hot chick by the end of your shift," she added and Danny rolled his eyes. She just had to add that. She couldn't just say something genuinely nice for once in her life.  
  
He didn't say a thing and continued walking toward the entrance, hoping his coldness and the disappointment in his expression would urge her to get a move on. Only when he was about to slide through the automatic doors, he realized the pretty and annoying casino hostess was still standing by his side.  
  
"What are you doing?" Danny complained, looking very irritated. "Didn't you get my subtle "you're annoying," me signs? Or do you just disregard anything that doesn't comply with what you want?"  
  
"Don't flatter yourself," she giggled in her signature Deline mimic. She couldn't resist.  
  
Okay, girl or guy, this girl was going to be pounded. He grabbed her in a headlock and brought his other fist close to her jaw.  
  
"Hey, okay. I get it," she whimpered, actually sounding a tad bit frightened. She didn't relax until he dropped his other hand and loosened the grip on her body. "I'm not stalking you or trying in any way to pick you up, Danny, if you actually thought that."  
  
"With you, I'm not sure of anything," he retorted as he felt her neck and made sure he hadn't dislocated anything within the delicate neck of hers. "What are you doing here, with me, then?"  
  
"Well, I actually got a call from Mike, said something about how he's got a high-rolling customer who should be offered the V.I.P treatment," Sam explained, shaking her head. "And he told me that I had to babysit too. BABY SIT!"  
  
"Mike?" he inquired and then put a hand to her shoulder to tell her to be quiet while he answered a call from Ed. "This is Danny McCoy."  
  
"Danny, tell me I'm wrong. The security cameras are showing me that you're still on the premises. I thought I told you to go out and meet up with Mike in the valet area, OUTSIDE!" he boomed and Danny actually had to pull the phone away from his face to save his poor eardrums.  
  
"Yeah, I know. But I'm not playing around. I had a run in with our wonderful casino host," Danny explained, adopting a serious expression to worry the already slightly worried Sam.  
  
"Well, Sam or no Sam, I want you out there, now!"  
  
"Yeah, we're heading over there right now," Danny assured his boss in his most alleviating tone, all the while, shooting Sam a glance to hint to her that he was discussing her.  
  
"No, actually, change of plans," Ed said abruptly and Danny paused in his steps.  
  
Great, just what he needed. More chaos.  
  
"Okay. What's up?"  
  
"What's up?" Ed demanded, probably offended that his protégé felt comfortable enough with him to use slang with him. Ed was former CIA and he liked that he could intimidate people. "I'll tell you what's up!One of the valets on the other side of the casino saw who they believe is our underage girl enter the casino through "our," door because you won't get up and do your job instead of flirt with other girls now that my daughter dumped your sorry ass!"  
  
Ouch! Danny heard Sam stiffle a giggle. Mm, nice, Ed's voice had probably been loud enough for Sam to hear. "Right, like I said, I wasn't flirting~~~" he began but then cut himself off, knowing Ed, like Sam, had selective hearing. "What's Mike's situation?"  
  
"Do I sound like a person who knows what's going on in every inch of my casino?" Ed barked. "Go over there and find out!" he commanded him angrily.  
  
"Going," Danny promised as he got ready to shut off the cell phone.  
  
"Oh and Sam doesn't need to accompany you. Mike gave me a call and he says he no longer needs her help. The high-roller has left the premises. Besides, I've got another job for her."  
  
"Okay, shoot."  
  
"I want her to do the casino hostess thing inside the casino host. That way she can be on the look out for our underage criminal," he reasoned with Danny, speaking slow as though there was no other way Danny would be able to comprehend it.  
  
"You got it. I'll take care of the girl if she's here. You got the rest of the casino?"  
  
"For now," he said with a grumble. "But don't' be surprised if I give you a call or two~~~or three."  
  
"Got it."  
  
"Find that girl, Danny," Ed said in a lower tone that meant that he was not joking in anyway, not even to make his life more miserable. This girl had Ed freaked.  
  
Danny gave the nearest security camera a nod and a thumbs up. Sam still stood next to him, still in suspense. He then shoved the phone off and placed it in his pocket.  
  
"So?" Sam prompted, folding her arms, trying to like the whole call hadn't bothered her but she wasn't pulling it off very well. Danny saw right through her and he was enjoying the hell out of it.  
  
"Oh, that was just Ed on the phone," Danny informed her very nonchalantly while making it obvious that he had other business on the mind. "Love to chat with you but, I've got to go."  
  
"Hey, wait, I'm coming too!"  
  
Danny turned around and held a hand up before her face. "N~No, Ed wants you to stay on the gaming floor. Watch for suspicious girls." He was being vague on purpose. He then began to walk off again only to have his wrist snatched by Sam's very nice and sharp fingernails.  
  
"Danny, wait, what did Ed want with me?"  
  
"Oh, don't' worry about it," he assured her, gave her a wink and then took off for the front door.  
  
Ugh! Sam hated Danny when he pulled that kind of crap with her, making his job as security more top secret than it probably really was. She almost called Ed to discuss the matter with him but she didn't think Ed would tell her anything if he didn't. Maybe it was on a have-to-know basis. The next minutes were a blur. She turned to one of the more rich V.I.P's and flashed a pleasant smile. She heard him give her a request but her mind was barely on the business at hand as she jot down a memo.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hey! Thanks for reading this far! Lots of love for ya'll Las Vegas fans! Hope this'll hold you out till the next chappy! And groan, LAS VEGAS is not showing tonight. Mondays are so mundane, I need my JOSH DUHAMEL FIX!  
  
Anywho, please review. If I get five reviews I'll update as soon as I get the chapter up. If I get less than that, you'll probably be waiting at least a month, (evil cackle) nah, probably not, just review so I know you all are reading okay!  
  
Lataz,  
  
Total Vaughn Lover 


	4. Part IV

One Last Wish in Las VegasTotal Vaughn Lover 

A/N: I just want to say that it's been a long time, and a long heartbreaking bout of writer's block but I've gotten through it. Thanks for the reviews and for supporting me.

I am happy to present to you...

Part IV

Danny bust out of the Montecito Casino's front doors as though he were an officer, ready to come down hard on his suspect, gun and all.

A few shocked expressions on the customer's faces and he realized that the gun was unnecessary. In face he looked more like the terrorist than the security guard.

"Danny!" Mike shouted, over the hushed crowd that he was trying to push into the Casino and away from wanna-be LAPD, Danny McCoy. He pushed through the crowd and squeezed his buddy's shoulder. "Wass up, Danny?"

"Nothing, obviously," Danny grimaced, putting his gun away.

"Aw man, I heard about Delinda, and more importantly, the monster of a hangover you had, man."

"Can we talk about that later? Every female in that casino won't stop about that subject except in my face. Then they do the "are you okay, Danny?" bit and claim they don't have a reason to ask me."

"All right man, lunch then."

"Nah, I've promised that precious hour to Mary," Danny regretfully lamented when he saw the smile fall of the valet's face. "I screwed up this morning with her, man and I, I've been busy and I haven't had a lot of time to spend with her."

"Okay Danny, as long as you're not ditching me for another guy."

Danny and Mike engaged in their "secret handshake," before Danny added, "but if I don't get to the bottom of this, I won't be able to take lunch. So what's the deal? Where is the family you had the dilemma with?"

"Oh, dilemma's gone."

"So you got them to do the thing where they take turns to watch their baby?" Danny grinned, thinking this could be the first thing today that went right.

"No, the family just left."

"What do you mean, "just left?"

"They said "thank you," then did an about face and left the premises," Mike clarified for him then shot his security friend a glance. "What's up, Danny?"

"The family you met was creating a diversion," Danny explained and pulled out his trusty cell phone once more.

"What? Man, are you kidding?"

"No, and that would explain why an underage girl slipped into the casino," the blond continued then hit his boss' number.

"Ed Deline."

"Ed, this is Danny. I think you may be right about the diversion. The family causing the problems left right after the exchange. I'm thinking the crying was it and the girl got in."

"Well, good work, Danny."

"I'm going into the casino now."

"All right, get her Danny. Just uh....leave the bad cop routine out of it. Only I can pull that off."

"Right."

"What's going on" Mike inquired when he saw how exhausted Danny looked.

"I have about an hour to nab this girl if I don't want Mary thinking that I don't like her," he exhaled. "I'll catch you later, man."

"Later," Mike hollered back as he watched Danny rush back to work.11111111111

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"...and that dinner is the best Chinese I know of in Las Vegas, and after that you should go to the backroom and get the stress relieved by a beautiful masseuse."

"Man, that does sound good," one of the guys cheered, taking the card from the hostess.

"Not that I think I have any stress to have relieved, but if she's beautiful, I'm not complaining."

"Yyou two just enjoy yourselves," Sam urged them, squeezing their hands.

"Oh we will, thanks Sam."

Sam flashed them a cheesy smile and then turned around and shook it off. Those two guys were too drunk to notice it anyway.

"Hey Sam," greeted a beautiful woman with dark curls and a thick british accent.

"Nessa, hi, did you see those two?"

"Yes," Nessa said with a grin. "I also couldn't help but notice the on-crack smile you gave them as well."

"That smile does not make me look like I'm on crack!!"

"Are you sure?" she teased, giving her "Nessa's version," of the "on-crack smile." "It was quite ridiculous."

"Aw, they were too drunk to notice it anyway," Sam shrugged, rolling her big brown eyes, then she got back to business. Yes Nessa and Sam were starting to like each other but while on duty, they barely spoke to each other, mainly because Nessa was always at the tables and Sam was running errands all around the casino, hotel and pool. "What's up, Nessa?"

Nessa's brown eyes narrowed as she gestured to a young girl that was walking about the slot machines. "I saw her come in and I thought she was a little young.'

"Could be, but then twenty one is considered a young age," Sam reminded her. "Did you I.D her?"

Nessa shook her head. "I thought I should since she came in the route I always see Danny take, but I haven't been able to get a hold of him."

"Has she been playing?" Sam asked, with more interest.

"I think so, I saw her sitting at the machine but she doesn't seem to interested in playing, more like she's in awe of this place."

"Tthank you, I think I'll go talk to her."

"Wait, what about Danny?"

"Don't call him, that's the last option. Let me see what I can do first. I think she'd be more likely to talk to me than Danny who's first name is intimidation," Sam offered, biting her lip as she planned out how to approach her. Nessa didn't argue and just went back to her blackjack table.

Samantha approached the young woman nonchalantly. She was probably eighteen. She was very pretty with a golden tone to her skin, large hazel eyes and light brown tresses that draped her shoulders. There was an angel like quality to her and a peace she didn't think she could experience.

"Hi," Sam chirruped and held out her hand to the young woman who hesitated then turned away. "I'm the casino host for Montecito and I saw you looked a little lost. I would love to do what I can to make your stay more enjoyable."

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

"Really, I insist. Can I go ahead and get your name, please?" she inquired then added, "So I know what to call you," when she saw how frightened she looked.

"Oh um...Belle, Belle Sears," the brunette stammered, looking ready to jump the coop. "But really, I'm fine."

"Are...are you here by yourself?"

Belle nodded.

"Oh...well, you look a bit young to be here by yourself. I don't mean to make you feel low or criminal but...can I see some I.D?"

Belle bit her lip and pulled it out of her purse and was handing it to the casino host when she heard a man's voice call out, "Good, Sam, you've got her!"

Belle looked from the nice casino host to the man with deep harsh voice who was actually in fact pretty young and extremely handsome in his fancy suit.

"You're with him? What are you, security?"

"No, I'm not," she said uneasily.

"But, he is," Belle finished for her with fear in her eyes. "I'm outta here."

"Yeah he is...but he's nice."

Belle gave her a dubious look or as much as she could muster, looking as frightened as she was. Then she didn't even smile and ran away,, as though she really were a criminal.

Danny reached Sam and shot her an irritated expression. "Uh Sam, would you like to tell me why you just let her go?"

"I didn't."

"Then why did she go?"

"Because you decided to show up at the most inconvenient time," Sam shot back, standing on her tippy toes, trying to locate the girl over the sea of people that swarmed the tables and machines, making access to other parts of the casino tiring and time consuming. "You scared her away."

"How long have you been standing with her?" he demanded, ready to give a call to a very unhappy Ed but that was the fastest way to pinpoint where she was, through camera feed.

"A minute or two."

"Well did you think to call me up in that minute or two?"

"No."

Danny was sure he'd heard her wrong. "No? What do you mean, no?"

"I knew you were going to hound her like a criminal, that's why I wanted to deal with her, talk her into getting parental supervision or go down town where the underage can go."

"So she's underage? You went ahead and did my job and I.D'd her?"

"No, I didn't get a chance. You showed up right before I could," Sam chided him and poked him in the chest. "Why couldn't you be a bit more discreet about addressing me? I mean do I just bust in with a big, "HI!" when you're in the middle of something?"

"No, the only time I talk to you is when I have to," Danny retorted angrily.

Sam looked a bit hurt but shrugged it off and added instead, "yeah, and if you keep doing that with Mary and be naïve to her feelings, you're not going to have a best friend."

Danny flipped around, looking as though someone had just pulled the chair out from underneath him. "What? What are you talking about? What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you haven't paid enough attention to your best friend to know that, then you don't deserve to know."

"Sam," Danny barked in a pretty mean tone. "Tell me what you're talking about."

To this, Sam shook her head, obviously in disbelief that Danny was really clueless. "You just go do your job."

"Then you'll tell me?"

"If you manage not to make Belle feel like she's being a criminal. Be nice McCoy if you want a word out of me."

Danny nodded, trying to look sincere and watched Sam walk away.

(An hour later)

"Ed, I know you're probably going to kick my butt and threaten to castrate me but, are you sure you've checked all the cameras?"

"Danny, I know you didn't just ask me I checked all the cameras."

"I did...because you had to have missed something."

"DANNY MCCOY!"

"Fine, I get it," he harrumphed and shoved the cellphone back into his pocket. Well, Ed wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say, he was just going to have to find the girl on his terms.

So was that long enough for you? I'm working on the next chapter, if I know people are reading, I'll post! Oh, heck, I'll post it anyway! Thanks for taking the time to get this far. You rock!

Till next time.

Kristy (Total Vaughn Lover)


	5. Part V

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! Appreciate it so much! You guys are awesome and don't worry, I'm still writing, just a busy person ya know! Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

One Last Wish in Las Vegas .....................................................................Total Vaughn Lover

Part V

"Hi Danny," Nessa called from her table. She was cleaning up after she'd finally managed to push away the blackjack game that had gone on a little over three hours.

Danny just breezed by, his handsome face stern, as though he had a sense of purpose. And maybe his scowl was just a hint of irritation presenting itself. He didn't even look at Nessa which was out of character for lady's man Danny McCoy, Nessa was almost as voluptuous as his best friend, not to mention the way she insisted on keeping him out of the loop about Ed drove him absolutely insane!

"Danny, are you ever going to take me out to see the sights of Vegas?" she crooned as she shuffled her cards one last time then stuck it into its' box.

Danny still didn't give the sexy dealer another glance. He didn't even see her out of the corner of his eyes, so of course he didn't see Nessa coming until she physically put her arm through his.

"Mr. McCoy, are you ignoring me?" she teased, the question coming off her lips very playfully, making it sound as though it would be absolutely ridiculous for Danny to say anything other than, "A sexy black jack dealer who teases me just the way I like it while keeping me in my place? No way!"

But what the security protégé said was far from anything that sounded like that.

"Actually I was too busy that I didn't even notice until you grabbed me," Danny grumbled as he wrenched his arm out of her grasp and checked for messages on his phone. "And I'm sorry but I just don't have the time to sweet talk you right now."

Nessa reacted exactly the way any beautiful woman would after being thrown that comment. She stumbled back, looking a bit shocked, a mixture of pain, loathing and annoyance in her creole-complected expression. "Well excuse me, I should have known you were in a hurry, only I didn't notice because the chip on your shoulder is so big that it could cover your whole head!"

Danny shook his head as though he were chiding a misbehaving student, a girl who would make him waste his time saying no because she would never get it.

This seemed to turn Nessa off even more an her hot anger tinged her honey-brown cheeks with a light red coloring.

"Look Nessa, I don't know what happened last night of what drama you want to inflict on me but I just don't have the time today," Danny stated briskly, getting directly to the point. "I don't know if Sam or Ed told you but we've got an underage kid on the grounds and for some reason Ed wants her off...now."

He emphasized the now since his first one in conversational tone didn't make enough of an emphasis.

Nessa almost told him to shove it and that she certainly didn't have time for his wild goose chases but she didn't want to stoop down to his level. "Right, underage kid. Got it, can you give ma description of some sort so I would know what I'm looking for?"

"I...I don't have a picture but I know she's got shoulder length light brown hair with matching eyes. According to Sam she's developed, and she was sporting a light blue camisole dress," Danny informed her hurridely.

"So she's an underage hooker then? Maybe you should go check with Mary, she's always around the bars," Nessa said helpfully but Danny shook his head.

"No, she's not a hooker. Besides, I've already checked," Danny said as an after thought. His eyes had that look that indicated that he was planning his next move as they spoke.

"Well what is she? A young unregistered scammer? Maybe in with her pops who's retired and taught her the tricks of the trade?" Nessa asked then, a bit frustrated when he didn't react of answered her.

Again though, Danny shook his gorgeous expressionless yet serious head.

"What is it then? Is she a drug dealer, or perhaps she's intoxicated and you don't want her getting into trouble, or actually make trouble on your watch?" she suggested only to get the same annoying reaction. Ugh! Did Danny want her help or did he want to piss her off? If the latter was true, he was doing a good job of it.

"Actually, she's just an innocent naïve little girl who wondered into the adult playground a few weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday, assuming she's who we think she is," Danny clarified, looking suddenly as though he had a major headache, but his tone softened. Nessa could tell that Danny was holding something back but what came out next was nothing close to comforting.

"She's just underage? She's not even trying to pass of as a hooker? Danny, then what's the big deal? You could be handling more pressing matters with this time," the beautiful woman shrieked, her british accent made her voice sound that much angrier.

Danny wanted to reach out to her and squeeze her shoulder but he didn't. Some thing were perfectly comforted by touch, others were not. He drew his hand into his pocket to curb any urges he could possibly have.

"I totally agree with you. I don't see the big deal of having an underage girl on the grounds, it's not like she's going to rob the casino or anything. She just wanted her moment in Las Vegas just like the millions of non-vegas residents that fly into Sin City to fulfill their guilty pleasures," Danny sighed, hoping Ed wouldn't be offended by his feeling sorry for the girl Ed wanted absolutely nothing to do with. "Especially because if she's the girl I think she is, she'...she's dying."

Nessa's face closed with concern. "What did you say, Danny? I thought I heard you say..."

"You heard right," the handsome security protégé spit as he stared at the ground. "She's dying and the One Last Wish Foundation came to us today to ask us to grant a wish but..." then he broke off. "Listen Ness, I've got to go. After all I'm on Ed's payroll and he is still my boss. And he wants me to go look for this girl."

"I know, especially if you want to keep this job of yours," Nessa reasoned, her voice and face softened. She now knew why Danny had been so on edge with her and felt a little bad for being so brash with him. "Well Danny, if you need anything, let me know, though I can't made Ed change his mind, I want to help."

"Thanks," Danny said, genuinely grateful. "If you want to help, find that girl and get the info to me before Ed finds it. Oh and the thing about the Last Wish, don't tell anyone. As soon as I get a hold of this girl, I'm going to hold a little meeting where I'll need Club Mystique's hostess, the special events coordinator, queen of the gaming floor, the casino's star hostess and even the valet guy to be in attendance. You'll find out why later."

Nessa gave Danny an uneasy glance as she folded her arms under her breasts.

"Okay Nessa? You've had experience keeping Ed's secrets, it won't be hard for you to keep one for me, right?" he demanded and Nessa could tell she was serious.

"O...Of course, my lips are sealed," she finally swore, giving him her most serious expression, complete with deep eyes and pursed lips.

Danny only looked semi-convinced but he knew he had more pressing matters at hand and therefore went off to continue his search as Nessa looked on. He pressed through the crowd only to smack into Mike who looked like he wanted to chat. He gave a very abrupt apology and went on without another glance or word. He could hear Mike cursing. "Ah no, that's cold. That's just cold."

He went through another throng of people, cell phone again his ear as the only man on the floor with a red beard filled him in on the latest update on the girl's position.

"She's in the corridor?" Danny gasped, amazed at how she could have ended up there. "Should I even ask how she knew how to get in there?"

Red Beard didn't reply.

"Okay, is there a security man near her that I can call to intercept her?" Danny barked, barely making out what Red Beard was saying to him. He almost told the crown to shut it but at the last moment he remembered this was a casino, and noise meant business, loud noise meant major buzz.

"No the closest guard right now is at the South Ed, that's over 2500 feet away from her and the target is moving fast. I think she knows she's being followed."

Hmm...Danny took this into consideration. What the man on the other end was saying turned the wheels in his head. "You know, I'm betting she cam upon that door on mistake, she's probably lost." He paused to think, making his way away from the loud crowd. "Okay, so, no security guard. Is there anyone near her at all?

He got about ten seconds of dead air before he came back on the phone to inform him that Mary Connell was about 350 feet from interception.

"Okay, thank you," he stammered then shoved the phone into his pocket before he could hear the man ask him if he wanted Mary notified. But it made no different, he was going to head over there anyway.

He worked his way through another throng only as he pushed through the last person, someone got the back of his pants and he ended up tripping on the floor. He lifted his head and was greeted two pairs of female toes, one was painted a nice rhinestone turquoise, the other a much more subtle peach. He gazed upward and began cursing to himself. No, God, did God have to be so cruel?

Standing above him was two teasing and condescending looks from his ex-girlfriend sporting a stunning short turquoise dress and Sam in what she'd been wearing earlier, a white halter and dark capris.

"Good afternoon girls, good timing as usual," he said wryly. Delinda and Sam began giggling as though it was the funniest thing he'd ever said.

Sam stood there as though she wanted to just ridicule him for the rest of the afternoon. Delinda was the one who leaned down to give him a hand. Danny took it but tried not to grip it too hard, afraid of what her father would do if he broke any of Delinda's delicate fingers due to his hangover-induced clumsiness.

"Hay Sam, lend the poor boy a hand," Delinda asked her friend who stood stone-faced. Today she was an ice queen if there ever was one! She did finally lend a hand despite that she looked like she wanted to squash his face with her heels. Together they yanked the much taller and muscular hunk of a security guard to her feet. "There ya go cowboy."

"Thank ya ma'a," Danny said with a smile, miming as though he were tipping his imaginary cowboy hat to her. Delinda just laughed, seemed Danny was taking the break up a lot better than she'd predicted. She didn't even feel she had to hook him up with one of her own girlfriends.

Yup, Danny was holding his won, and it made Delinda feel just a little hurt that he wouldn't be pining for her tonight.

By the time she looked up, Danny was already shooting down into the hallway. It wasn't until Sam tugged on her arm that she remembered she was working.

"Come on Dee, Danny knows what he's doing, and look, you don't have to worry about him trying to pick you back up. You're free to date whoever you want!" Sam cheered. "I happen to know the guy who was checking you out last night."

"I..I don't know if I want to go on a date tonight," Delinda sighed which prompted Sam to put a concerned hand to the beauty's forehead.

"No fever," Sam reported. "Come on Dee, we should get back on the floor. You know Danny will contact us if he needs to. Besides, apparently he's going to intercept Mary and get her help to catch the one...I let get away."

Sam bit her lip, looking upset with herself.

While Delinda couldn't but wish she was Mary Connell right now.

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"All right, I should be closing in on Mary very soon," Danny triumphed as he walked down the familiar silver hallway . "Then maybe Ed will let me get back on the floor so I could find my new potential chick.

Danny had a very serious and a little irritated expression but inside he was actually feeling macho. He'd been able to deal with Delinda as though she hadn't just broken his little heart. And the added surprise he hadn't expected was that it was quite possible that it was now Delinda pining for him.

Back to business. Danny looked forward and turned the corner, ready to grab the underage girl. Being in the marines for special operation and working for his boss who was former CIA had taught him at least one thing, to always go with your first instinct.

And he had the instinct that underage teen was going to make the horrible mistake of coming down the hallway just around the corner and smack into him.

He did smack right into a young woman.

But it wasn't the woman he was on pursuit for.

At least not at the present moment.

Danny backed up and put a hand to his chest before he recognized who it was he'd run into.

"Mary," he cried in concern as he knelt down next to the figure sprawled on the floor. "I'm sorry, are you okay?'

"Fine, Danny," she assured him and gave him her hand, her face beaming with a smile. Just looking at DannyMcCoy cured any pain she had. Of course other than the one he'd inflicted by insisting on dating any beautiful girl but her.

"Here, up you get," he coaxed her and gently helped the 5'8" brunette get back to a standing position. "You going to be okay?"

"Sure, let met just lean against the wall for a second," she murmured and Danny obliged. He stayed for about a second to determine whether she'd be able to walk straight. She blinked her eyes and focused on the floor, he could tell the way her pupils grew larger.

"Hey Mary, I've been looking for this young underage girl, light brown hair, hazel eyes, and apparently quite pretty," Danny inquired, getting directly back to business. "Red Beard told me that you were the closest in vicinity to her not even five minutes ago, did you see her?"

"N...no, I don't think so," she replied then put a hand to her stomach that had suddenly started rumbling. "So, we are still doing lunch right, Danny?"

Danny glanced at his cellphone and cursed. Damn, was it that time already?"

"Mary, you know I would like nothing more than to share fried with my best friend, which is you," Danny lamented, looking as though he had gone to the bathroom in his pants. "But I'm on Ed's clock and there 's that girl I still have to look for."

Mary turned around and folded her arms.

"Mary, you're not mad are you?"

"N...no," but it was evident from her tone that she was either jealous or feeling rejected.

"Mary..."he cajoled and turned her around and now he knew she was upset with him.

"It's just...we haven't been spending a lot of time with each other and I...I thought you'd want to talk about Delinda and maybe..." Mary began, looking down at the ground, purposely avoiding his gaze.

"Mary, you know I do," Danny insisted. "Maybe not talk about Delinda but I'd love to have lunch with you! It's just that is my job and I've got to do it before Ed yells at me." Danny heard his beeper go off.

Ed was just in time.

But he couldn't leave Mary so distraught and rejected, for one, he wouldn't be able to focus on his job if he did, everyone knew he cared for Mary Connell, Delinda even had asked him who he was really dating?

"Of course, your job. That's just a way of getting out of being with me," Mary accused. "And you know what, that's fine. I understand if you can't deal with women in general but you suggested it, you should be honest with me, not pull me in all directions or show me you have a gift and not let me have it."

"Mary, please, you know what you're saying is not true," Danny protested, putting a palm to his sweating forehead. "It's just Ed is not going to like me going on a thirty minute break when there's an unresolved situation at hand."

But Mary was not having any of that. "Well, I wish you'd told me earlier." She then let out an audible groan. "Geez Danny, I left a lot of things unfinished to go to lunch but do you see me sweating? No, because that's what normal people do, Danny, they have lunch as bossy as Ed is, he can't deny you a break."

"You're right but Mary he needs me to do this for him," Danny repeated, trying to get Mary to understand so he could skedaddle as soon a possible. He'd already left his ringer going on for two minutes.

"And I need you to spend time with me. I think you've been working with that Ed Deline for too long," Mary sniveled, as she took his large hand into hers. "You know you don't have to work so hard.

Mary stepped forward, planning to drag her quite tough best friend along, only he didn't come instead, he dropped her hand.

"Mary, I'm going to have to do a rain check on this lunch," Danny apologized but the tone of his voice indicated that it was his final decision.

"What? But Danny?'

"No, buts. Mary, you can't compare my job to yours, okay? You make good connections, set up all our special events and somehow coordinate everything so it all works out and that's admirable."

That comment actually made Mary's cheeks blush a deep shade of rose.

"But the welfare and safety of this casino depends on my doing my job well," Danny added, a bit smarmy. "That's a tad more of an important responsibility than your is. Which means that the rules that would apply to the rest of the casino wouldn't apply to me.;

Mary stared at Danny with wide eyes, thinking he couldn't have said what he just had. "So you're saying that our rules are different because you're Big Ed's apprentice and I'm one of the lowly employs of the Montecito casino?" her voice became shrill again, causing the occasional passerby to wonder what Danny had done to make her upset.

"Mary, wait a minute."

"No, you wait a minute," Mary scowled as she pushed him in the chest and smacked him with the bag in her other hand. "And just for your information, wasn't it for my grueling hours of planning interesting concepts throughout the years, you wouldn't have the opportunity to watch over half of what you're overseeing right now." She then paused before she looked into his beautiful eyes with her wet ones. "And security guard or not Danny McCoy, the rules of friendship do apply and you broke...at least ten in this conversation alone."

Danny didn't have time to realize what had hit him because Mary began stalking away, her red hot stilettos made clacking noises that shook Danny's heard with every step she took, pushing him deeper into his guilt pool.

"Mary!'

But she didn't stop or send him a disappointed glance. Damn, had he been that harsh? He shoved his hand into his pocket and remembered his boss was calling him.

"Danny, here."

"Danny, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE 3 MINUTES AGO!"

"Yeah, I know but I had this situation with Mary and I think it cost us our friendship," he explained to Ed as if his boss would care,.

"You and Mary have known each other since childhood. I'm sure you've majorly screwed up in the past. She'll live. But you are not going to last much longer in your position unless that girl is on her way to the interrogating room right now."

"I'm working on it Ed, give me five minutes.'

Ed didn't reply. He didn't like speaking with idiots and right now Danny was acting like quite a big one. He just ended the phone call leaving Danny in the dark.

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Had Danny really said the things he had?

And had he meant them?

No, of course not, Mary knew that she was always somewhere near the center of Danny's heart.

In fact, she knew she'd already forgiven him and maybe she had overreacted just a tad. But what could she say? The truth was that even if Danny's heart had been hurt by that sexy as a supermodel Delinda Deline. She was selfishly relieved that Danny was no longer attached and her main lunch goal had been to show her what she'd lost by dumping him and what Mary had gained as a result of it.

Only it was seeming more and more like she'd taken her jabbing at Danny's job too far. She knew she had to have really been unreasonable or offensive for him to be so brash with her. Danny was the only one she could run to when thing went wrong. He knew how fragile she was.

Now how was he supposed to go back to work when the only thing she wanted to do was run to Danny and apologize to him? She stole a look at her watch. Crap, she had to get back. And it wasn't like she could see him anyway, with him being chief of security.

She would have to worry about dong that later. And maybe n her next hours of planning she could plan some way to show Danny how special he was to her.

But right now she was late to a meeting with the executives of Kraft who wanted to use the Montecito to advertise their new line of cheeses and she probably shouldn't wear such a low cut top.

What was it, just another five feet, two corner and then she'd be back on the

CRASH!

Mary couldn't believe that she was back on the floor. But instead of worrying about herself she reached over to help up the girl she'd collided with,

"Hey, let me help you," she said gently to the young lady sprawled on the floor.

"T...thank you," Mary replied and flashed her a very nice smile. "I'm Mary Connell, I'm Director of Special events. What's yours?"

"It...it doesn't matter," she replied, keeping her gaze downcast. "Thank you for helping me but I'm okay. I'll be okay."

"There's no reason to be nervous. Besides if you're a new employee we'll be seeing each other around," Mary pointed out and put her hands on the girl's bare shoulders, her trembling bare shoulders.

Finally the girl lifted her head. Mary was taken aback by her beautiful hazel eyes, her slightly flushed cheeks framed by beautiful light brown hair. Tthe beauty of a teenager.

"I'm Belle...Belle Sears," she replied, showing a little bit of her bright white teeth until she realized how Mary was looking at her, just like that other so-called Sam. "Um...why are you staring at me that way? You're making me nervous."

"Oh...sorry, it's just that you're a guest and I'm appalled that our hosts and hostesses couldn't keep you from getting lost back here. Just wait, I'll get my best friend to escort you back out onto the floor."

"No, I'm fine."

"No, compliments of Montecito for throwing you into our lowly employment quarters," Mary said with another beautiful smile then pulled out her cell phone. "Just let me make a call, okay?"

"Um, okay," Bell replied, continuously darting her eyes from left to right.

Mary nodded in approval and then bit her lip when she heard Danny state his name in way of greeting.

"Hi Danny, it's Mary. Listen I've got this Belle Sears who somehow got back here. Yes, in the same area we just met. W...what? She's right he..."

Mary turned to look at Bell, only she was no longer standing there. "Danny, she's gone. But that's impossible, she was just here."

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"I believe you, she did the same with Sam," Danny groaned. "I'm heading your way and yeah, that fight was crap. Maybe we can do dinner," he suggested with a grin. "You're right, I'll ask you when it's closer to dinner time. You try and go off in the direction you think she went, I'll be there before you know it."

And this time when Ed called for him, he pretended he didn't hear it. Any second he wasn't on task could mean he'd be continuing this chase all night long.

He paused when he heard footsteps that were distinctly different from Mary's stilleto's. He then slowly made his way down the side of the way till he was in perfect position to see anyone passing by in the main walkway.

Yes! He heard nervous mumbling and panting, the kind a seventeen year old, Belle Sears would make.

Finally he saw a swish of blue material and lightly tanned legs, stuffed into a pair of last year's sandals.

Before he knew it, he reached out and put his arm around her waist, which caused her to loose her footing. Danny had to kneel down to make sure she didn't hit the floor, which made her face closer to him than he thought was appropriate.

Wow, he thought, aside from the blotchiness and tear stains, he was staring into the face of a very pretty and innocent looking teenager.

He really wished he didn't have to do what he was about to do.

"Belle Sears?"

Belle turned her head away, but Danny wasn't having any of that.

"Look, I think that what you did coming here was really not that bad of a thing. But if you don't cooperate with me, I'm going to have to assume that you're here for more than that reason."

Belle looked into Danny's beautiful and assuring hazel eyes. She wasn't going to win this round.

"You already know who I am."

"Right and I think you know who I am, considering you knew that I wasn't someone to mess with," Danny pointed out with a hint of that intimidating grin. "Then you bolted."

"No, I have no clue who you are, you're just really tall and not to mention confident, which is intimidating enough," she replied. "So are you going to tell me who you are any why you think you have any right trying to interrupt my life?"

"I'm Danny McCoy, head of security. My boss received some kind of letter and he thinks maybe she'll try and break in. Which is the only reason why we're even watching for underage," Danny informed her with another grin. "No that's we'll allow them in anyway." He then helped her to her feet, careful to keep at least one hand on her wrists. "So Belle, if you can provide me with I.D that will indicate you're over 17 years old, I will gladly let you go and make sure that the casino does everything to make sure your stay is nothing short of royalty."

Belle then looked down at the strong hand on her wrist then gave in, looking like a puppy who'd just been caught digging a hold in her master's prized petunias. "I don't, okay...you caught me. IIs there a chance that you're just let me go? I'll promise to leave the grounds."

"I...I would but you've taken most of my day and my boss insists we question you," he said in a quiet, almost apologetic tone as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed one of her hands before he locked the other one around his wrist. "I'm going to need you to come with me for a minute, is that okay?"

Danny really expected for her to say something in the realm of, "Do I have a choice?' But Belle just looked at Danny with very sad eyes.

"Mr. McCoy, I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble. And of course I will come with you."

After hearing that it took a lot of Danny to take her hand and lead her up the stairs to that small interrogating room.

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So Danny finally caught her and yeah, Mary likes Danny! But things are going to get interesting, more interesting than having Delinda pine for Danny!

Stay tuned!

Remember more reviews mean more writing!!

Till next time: Total Vaughn Lover


	6. Part VI

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! Appreciate it so much! You guys are awesome and don't worry, I'm still writing, just a busy person ya know! Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

One Last Wish in Las Vegas

Total Vaughn Lover

Part VI 

"Belle is in custody," Danny reported as he walked through the door after leaving the frightened and mournful looking girl in the downstairs interrogation room, the door barred by two more intimidating looking guards.

"Took you long enough," Ed admonished him, barely looking up from his desk that was scattered with brochures from countries around the world.

"Looks like the Delines are going on another vacation," Danny thought to himself as he noticed his boss sift irritably through the colorful booklets. And as usual, the head of security was doing it during business hours.

Danny didn't have the heart to tease him about it though. The only thing he could see in his mind was Belle, and the way she'd obediently went into the room then freaked out when Danny had introduced her to his guard buddies then left her there with them.

He could still hear her begging him not to leave her with two huge strangers. That since she'd cooperated, he shouldn't feel that she would run the moment he looked away.

Unfortunately he didn't believe her.

And 2nd, even if he did, if wasn't like Ed wouldn't catch him doing it. Early in his career, Danny had learned that whenever he felt like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing, Ed was usually watching him as he did it.

Still he felt extremely guilty and that had to be the only reason he had completely been oblivious to the fact that Ed had been continually speaking to him.

"Danny? DANNY?"

Danny blinked his eyes when he felt his body was being shook. Immediately, he broke out of his thoughts and at the same time, he bit hit tongue till he could taste blood. "Ow, look at what you made me do, Ed!" Danny groaned and blindly reached for the tissue that Ed had pulled out of his kleenex box for him. He gently dabbed his tongue, which he realized a second too late was a dumb thing to do. Now he had cotton mouth and he didn't even have a cold.

His boss was giving him strange looks but he acted like he didn't notice.

Until his boss called him on it case he couldn't stand not saying anything when his protégé was acting so…stupid.

"Danny, what did you do today? Did you take a stupid pill or something?" Ed asked in his mafia-era voice, "Or was breaking up with my beautiful Delinda that traumatizing for you?"

Danny raised his head and glared at his boss. He noticed there was a teasing twinkle in the old man's eyes, as if he actually believed Danny McCoy would admit that had it been the case.

But then Danny noticed Ed was holding his hand out to him as though he were expecting something. Which changed his choice of words from an explanation of his feelings to, "what?"

"You did take a stupid pill this morning," he heard Ed grumbled under his breath. "The I.D to that girl we've got, you did get it from her, didn't you?"

Danny thought quickly and prevented his doubt from showing on his face. Yeah, he remembered her handing it to him, but what had he done with it after that? He began digging into his pockets and then felt his hands encase a small leather object.

Had to be her wallet.

"Uh yes, I've got it. Name is Belle Sears , she's seventeen according to this card. It looks like some kind of medical card, it lists all her allergies and what sickness she has," Danny began, reading off the plastic card in his hand. "And really Ed, I don't think she'll try this stunt again. She was near tears when I left her in the interrogation room." Danny explained but not very haughtily though had he caught anyone else, he would have been.

"I'm sure I would have been able to read but thank you. Go ahead and give it to me and I can take care of it from here," Ed said then, reaching for the card. Something felt wrong in Danny's body and he actually kept from giving it to his boss, despite the consequences that could result of his disobedience. He just didn't feel right about subjecting the teenage girl who could have keeled over from his treatment to Ed's bad cop routine.

Not that he believed Ed would be able to keep it up long enough to act like he was going to break her arms. Not when he took one look into her big hazel eyes.

"Danny, the card, you're wasting my time and hers."

Danny still couldn't bring himself to give it to him.

"McCoy, what are you waiting for? I thought you'd appreciate that I'm willing to take this girl off your hands cause that would leave you to go and make up with your uh….best friend," he gave him that," that's right, I heard that conversation about dinner," glance.

"No wait, Ed…I have this gut feeling, and it's telling me that I shouldn't let you do this," Danny said after a beat. "This is my job, let me take care of it."

Ed looked in disbelief at Danny. "WHAT?"

"Ed…before you get upset, please, just listen to me. I think I can handle her."

Ed was past upset. "Handle her? You think you can handle her? It only took you," he looked at his watch, "three hours to get her here!"

"That wasn't because I was incompetent, I kept getting interruptions…distractions."

"EXACTLY!" Ed cried triumphantly, shooting his fist into the air. "Which is exactly why you are going to step aside and let me take care of it."

"Ed…I'm serious," Danny pleaded, not sure why and certainly not sure how he was going to take care of it himself, but he just couldn't give him the upper hand.

Not this time.

"I'm serious too, McCoy, this is not an argument."

"Yes it is," Danny stated then went over to make sure the doors were closed and also to make sure no one was watching or listening to them. Then he marched over to his boss who looked ready to kill him. And being former CIA, he probably knew ten ways he could without even leaving the room. And saying what he was about to say could only be taken as he wanted to edge him on. "Ed, you're probably going to shoot me for saying this but, that girl, Belle Sears , I think she's a girl from the Last Wish Foundation. She may not be the one my buddy came in talking about today….then again, I can be totally and completely off but…just looking at this medical card indicates she's probably terminally ill. I know how you work and I'm not about to let you go and terrorize that poor angel because the casino industry doesn't think seventeen year olds shouldn't be allowed to gamble. If the media got a hold of this, you have no idea how many customers we would lose."

"The media won't find out about it."

Danny grew quiet, knowing Ed could make anything seem like it didn't happen. "Yeah…but someone could and you could still loose the business and be put on charges, even if I know the rep who spoke to you this morning." Danny was subtly hinting that he could leak it and since Ed didn't pull out his handy revolver, he assumed the protégé was about to get his first break of the day.

Ed sat down at his desk and clicked a button so that this private screens displayed the scene of the interrogation room. He immediately heard Danny sigh and from his profile, the handsome employee of his could only be accused of infatuation.

"Ed, just look at her. I don't think telling her if she talks, she's meat is going to work. If she steps a foot out of line against she's toast is not going to do much more than give her some scary nightmares," he crooned, his heart really going out for this girl.

"Sounds like you're sleeping with her," Ed teased then finally gave his, "oh what the hell, "sigh," "Danny, you really think you can handle her?"

Mr. McCoy came to attention as though he were still in the Marines.

"Even if I tell you that I'm pretty she is the Last Wish girl and I knew that the moment that situation happened with your best friend the valet?"

Danny gulped, hoping Ed didn't notice it. Now more than ever, he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't take the responsibility. "Yes." At the same time he was wondering why Ed had failed to mention he'd known.

"Good, then you do it. Go ahead and let her know that though we sympathize with her sickness, there are some things we can't allow," Ed instructed him, "but leave the bad cop out of it. It still needs A LOT of work."

"Right," Danny stated firmly. "Thanks Ed…"

Ed just stood and watched with that stern expression, slightly worried as he watched his best partner exit the room. He only prayed Danny knew what he was getting himself into, especially in rebound mode. And with a girl that could die any minute.

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"Made it alive out of there, did you Danny?" a silver-haired co-worker joked as he saw Danny walk down into the security's main floor.

"Yeah, that's twice in one day," Danny called back, grinning. "You should buy me a couple drinks tonight."

'If we were drinking tonight, but you made a dinner date with Mary didn't ya?" his co-worker reminded him in a teasing way.

Man, did everyone know his business today?

"Right, well tomorrow then. Or I'll get back to you. Right now I've got a job to do and I have a thought," Danny replied somewhat distractedly as he pulled his phone out.

"Okay Danny," his friend said, no longer looking at him but at the screens reporting a possible cheating scam.

Danny immediately pushed the speed dial for Mary. She picked up on three rings.

"Hi Danny!"

"Mary, yeah, it's me. Listen, there's something I need help with. I need you to think of anything a kid under eighteen would consider a fantasy vacation, but something that you can put together really fast."

"Um..well, I'm working Danny and to get all that…" then she paused. She was visualizing the object of her affection with brown eyes filled with desperation, showing so openly how much he needed her. "Did you get that girl? Is that why you need me?"

"Mary, you know me so well. Can you get away? I had to convince Ed to let me take it on and so..I can't screw up."

"I can get away, just tell me where you need me," she replied in her 100 best friend mode.

"Mary, you're the best! This shouldn't take long. And after this, I'll take you out to dinner, maybe I'll even buy you a few drinks," Danny beamed.

"Let me help you first and get you back on Ed's good side, then you can bribe me all you want," she said in her all-business tone, which she knew drove Danny wild!

"Um..well, I guess we can talk about that later," Danny agreed half-wishing he could continue to flirt with his model-perfect bodied bf. "Can you met me in the interro room in five minutes? I'm going to ring Delinds, Mike and Nessa and oh yeah…Sam."

"Okay, and if I bump into them before you do, I'll let them know," Mary offered then paused dramatically. "So Ed isn't going to grant her wish…but he is a good man allowing the Montecito employees to assist in getting her an alternative."

"Actually, that's my idea. Ed expects me to just tell her off so that she'll know not to come back but I can't be so scary to cause her a heart attack," Danny whispered. "I just couldn't do that. I mean, I just learned that the girl is dying. If we can't let her in the gaming area, we can at least be part of making her second fantasy come true."

There was a pregnant pause that actually made Danny feel as though Mary was going to report him. And to a point he supposed he could understand Mary love her job and would never forgive himself but…

"Well, I guess you're the good man then," Mary sighed distractedly. "Listen, I'm going to finish up here. I'll meet you in five minutes."

"Okay, thanks Mary."

Danny took a moment to really appreciate what risks she was taking for him. After a few phone calls to his good friends, Danny was ready to head back down to the girl he'd just left crying forty-five minutes ago."

"Oh mom, I hope you're watching cause I…I really can't screw this up," he prayed as he descended down the stairs. And in a way, he felt he couldn't screw up for his mother who was undoubtedly watching over him even when he didn't ask her to.

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Yes! New chapter finally! I know, so sorry, I'm working on pacing myself. Please review to let me know you're still reading so I'll know I have to update again real soon.!!!!

Happy new year guys and thanks for your support last year.

Total Vaughn Lover


	7. Part VII

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the one person who reviewed, I am definitely still working on this so if you're reviewing, please continue so I know you're reading, and if you've just stopped by to read the fic, hey, thanks a lot. So here ya go, guys!

One Last Wish in Las Vegas

Total Vartan Lover

Part VIII

"Gawd, this is going to be awkward," Danny groaned as he headed over to the big heavy silver door that was still being guarded by two of the heaviest men in the casino.

But he found the door surrounded by a mob of people, a mob of friendly people that he knew. Mary, Mike, Delinda, Nessa and hey, even Sam had decided to show.

"Hey, glad you're all here."

"Course we came, Danny," Delinda cooed and put her long arms around him. "We're your friends, Danny."

Mike nodded in his cool, "we homies," manner while Nessa gave him a very nice smile. Only Sam ruined the moment when she gulped, "we also wanted to witness it if you fell on your face during the first personal job Ed assigned you."

"SAM!" Nessa squealed.

"What?"

"The poor guy's hurtin," she added sympathetically.

"But you all do want to see if he messes up, don't you?" she taunted, when she got no response she repeated, "come on, you all know you…"

"Honestly Sam, all of us have our Danny issues whether we hate him so much, you gotta love him or vice versa but right now is not the time to think about that. Danny reached out to us because he needs our help," Delinda retorted, getting pretty annoyed with the ethnic beauty's negativeness. "Why can't you just be a team player for once."

Sam folded her arms and looked around her. All of them except Danny and Mary were looking at her.

"What is this, the national gang up on Sam day?" she grumbled tossing her chocolate strands to show off her muscular bronzed shoulders.

"Yeah, we created one in your honor," Mike joked, "in fact," He came up behind Delinda and placed his hands on her shoulders, which resulted in an annoyed, "what?'

"Well, just wanted to let the world know that there is a Taunt Delinda day. You all knew about it didn't you?"

He got a few sorry nods from his attractive co-workers, except Danny and Mary.

"So there's probably a Reject Mike day too, right," she shot back, looking quite proud of her comeback.

"Oh Dee, that's cold," Mike shuddered. "That's real cold. Uh hey Danny, I think you should take this young lady away for defacing her co-worker, hey Danny?"

But the head of security was currently in the arms of his best friend who never failed to come through for him and right now, she was baby-talking Danny who was having second thoughts about addressing Belle himself.

"What if she has a heart attack?"

"Danny, you are nowhere near intimidating enough to cause someone's heart to stop," Mary cooed as she smoothed his hair back. "But if you do with your drop dead gorgeous looks, no one can blame you."

He couldn't help it, he bushed. But none of the worry went away. "But I did scare her I saw the footage, she's crying."

"Then you'll do the right thing and get her to stop crying," Mary added, refusing to let her hunky crush admit defeat and squeezed his hands tightly.

Danny immediately felt very warm and loved. "Nobody believe in me like you do, Mary."

"Ditto," she replied which earned her a kiss on the forehead.

"Ahem! You two want to head over and do this?"

Mary and Danny stayed entranced in each other for a moment longer but then he did turn to the rest of the group who were eyeing them restlessly. "Oh sorry, I just…never mind. Okay," he boomed, "the situation is we have is a…"

"…Belle Sears, pretty young thing, not quite old enough to be in the casino you caught trying to break in," Sam interrupted in a nasal tone. A nerve in Danny's forehead bulged.

"Thank you, Sam. So, usually we would just say, no, you can't come and that they'll have to wait till they're eighteen but because…"

"…she's Danny new infatuation and because he thinks he owes her something for making her cry, we had to leave our precious jobs so we can sit in this room, where she deserves to be an come up with an elaborate out of policy vacation because Danny thinks he's supposed to do that," Sam rattled on, smirking at Danny the way she did when she liked to mess with his head.

Danny was used to being made fun of so usually he didn't make a big deal out of it but today, he was not having any of it. Danny didn't know whether it was because he'd been wishing he'd gotten another chance to help a dying woman since he'd unearthed the wishes he hadn't been able to grant for his mother because she died…whatever the reason, he had made it personal before he'd realized it. And it upset him more than anything that Sam thought he was a joke.

"Listen Ms. Jane, I understand you have some personal vandetta to drive me insane since the moment you first met me," Danny said in a calm voice as he fixed his eyes steadily on her fact that was showing the slightest bit of fright. "But you need to understand something, I'm in charge here and I don't care what you want to do to me or how badly you want to see me mess up, you will be civil to that girl."

Sam tried hard to look away but Danny's intense gaze seemed to have burned into her mind, not that she showed him the slightest cooperation.

"You will keep this professional," Danny repeated again, folding his arms while the rest of the group looked on with anxiety. "Because if not, you can turn around and help the rich boys who have nothing better to do than look at you ass, knowing because of your unwillingness to concentrate on what's really important, you failed to make a dying girl's wish come true."

The rest of the group were stunned into silence. They'd never seen Danny so angry. As a smart ass? All the time! But Sam had to have really hit a nerve to wrack hi nerves to the point he'd blown up.

It wasn't until Mary put her hand on his slightly shaking shoulder that he came back to life. He seemed to be calmer after he took a breath. He even went as far as to grabbing her hand and rewarding her with a warm smile.

He finally addressed the two guards who stood there, looking a bit taken aback by Dan's behavior.

"You two are dismissed," he boomed confidently. "I'll take it from here."

The guards didn't hesitate to move out of the way. Danny took a moment then turned the silver handle.

The heavy mental door slowly creaked open.

Danny slowly stepped into the room followed by his comaderie. He felt a pang of pain when he saw Belle look up then immediately cast her eyes away due to fright.

"Belle?" he greeted gently as he took a seat in one of the folding chairs which he positioned on the other side of the crying girl. "Belle Sears?"

"I know who you are," she spit, folding her thing arms defiantly. "After all I said, I can't believe you left me here. You're making me feel like I killed someone. So unless you're here to let me go…leave me alone."

Danny shot a quick glance to his nice-expressioned pals and knew he couldn't lose control of the situation right now. What he'd said to Sam seemed to have sunk into a point but after they left this room, she'd never let him live it down.

"Belle, I'm sorry," Danny began. "This wasn't to punish you." "Honestly," he added when Belle smirked, her eyes still red from crying. "I just needed to prove to my boss that you were contained and that you were no longer a "threat," to the casino's business and publicity."

Belle glared at him angrily and he knew he'd made a mistake. Threat was probably not the best choice of words.

"Sorry, but it was either this or going face to face with the main honcho Ed Deline, who is the blond's father," Danny pointed out. Delinda gave a little way despite the informal way he'd addressed her. "And trust me when I say this, you ended up with the better of the two situations."

"Trust you? TRUST YOU! Why in the world would you expect me to do that when you're obviously in this with him!" Belle demanded, no longer the sweet girl but a girl going through a minor case of betrayal. "You said that I didn't appear dangerous. Why in the world did you feel you had to bring in reinforcements?"

Danny looked to his smiling and warm-expressioned pals again. They didn't look a smidgen controlling or condescending. Mary stood up and joined Danny's side, touching his hand to let her know that she was going to take it from here.

"Belle was it? You remember me, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember you acted all friendly when all you were going to do was report me to your best friend," Belle huffed and then looked over at Sam. She was too disgusted that she didn't say anything.

"Belle, listen…why don't we just forget that this morning happened," Danny suggested and motioned for his group to sit down. He stood up so Mike could sit. Immediately he grinned. Seventeen or not, he obviously liked what he saw. "Now I have brought to you the circle of people I work around and hang out with outside of work, of course because they're good people."

"Sit down golden boy," Delinda interrupted then leaned forward on her arms. "Belle, my name is Delinda Deline as Danny so wonderfully pointed out. And unfortunately it is my dad causing all these problems." She paused to wink at the camera, knowing her dada was probably watching. "Now Danny can be very condescending but seriously, he won't harm a fly, especially such a pretty one."

Danny cast his gaze to the ground. He could feel that Belle wanted to look at him to register his expression but she was probably blushing from embarrassment.

"My name is Mike, no last name, at least, none you need to know pretty lady," the black guy flirted while the other girls rolled their eyes. "I'm Danny's best friend and I'm telling you, what he's doing right now has not been sanctioned by the Ed guy but it doesn't matter because he disagrees with Ed."

He then turned the floor to Nessa who held out her hand. Belle took it just to be polite. "I'm Nessa, black jack dealer. And I'm going to put this in easiest way possible, I apologize no one here at the Montecito can change the laws and no one here can magically turn you legal, but we would like to focus on what we can do."

Danny watched as each of his friends pulled out five different all expenses paid vacations that included Disneyland, a water park, a week in Beverly Hills, a week in Hawaii…damn they were good. All five of them had also offered to have her favorite restaurant serve her buffet style and she was sure he heard Mike offer to hold a party in his house in her honor if she'll be his date.

While the girls gave him an earful about him, Danny switched his focus to the girl who seemed more miserable than before. He just couldn't understand why? Was he just insensitive or was the girls' expectation that unattainable?

"Please ignore Mike, honey," Mary urged her guest and gestured once again to all the brochures. "Just say the word and your wish is my command."

"Um…th…thanks you guys but…I…I can't accept this and I know you are all going to think that I'm spoiled but…there's just no replacing or substituting for my dream, I…I'm sorry."

"W…What?" Sam gasped, ready to let her get a piece of Samantha Jane's mind. Thank god the other four were able to contain her.

"Danny?" Mary asked her handsome friend who was staring at Belle who'd begun crying, obviously puzzled and yet, he was still trying to analyze her. "Danny," she repeated.

Danny looked over at her. "Yeah, thanks guy, I'm sorry to have bothered you. You all did all you can. I'll catch up with you guys when I'm done here."

Mary nodded then ushered them out of the room, leaving the room quiet except for Belle's whimpers and sniffling

"Belle…you mind if I sit down?" Danny questioned very gently.

"No…go ahead," she replied as she rubbed at her eyes. It surprised Danny that she didn't end up with panda eyes, her eyelashes couldn't naturally be that thick or curled.

"I'm so sorry, you now see for who I am…a brat. I'm surprised you haven't called my parents."

Danny almost mentioned that it was because they didn't have the phone numbers to her parents but was able to catch his self. He knew he was dealing with a delicate situation and had to choose his words correctly.

However, he didn't know how else to say the next bit without just saying it.

"Belle Sears…you don't have to apologize. You're right. Nothing can replace your number one dream. I'm more worried that I've insulted you by doing what I did," he lamented, clasping his hands together then bent his head down. "I'm really…really…sorry."

Belle pulled her hands down from her face and looked at Danny McCoy who was no longer pretending, he genuinely felt bad for her.

"Y…you know, don't you? That's…that's why you didn't toss me away and tell me I better not darken the doorways of the entrance…" she said softly, but surprisingly she didn't feel that he was pitying her.

"Um yeah…I…I know that you're dying," Danny said quietly, saying it any louder would make tears well in his eyes. He couldn't get anymore emotional.

"How did you find out?"

"Um…your case officer from Lash Wish came and met with Ed. That case officer is also a really good friend of mine," Danny explained, trying to crack a smile.

"He told you?"

"N…not exactly," the nervous protégé admitted. "I figure it out from your card. That medical card had a lot on it so I figured something was going on." He then slowly lifted his head. "If you don't mind my asking…what do you have?"

"That's not something I ever like to discuss, Mr. McCoy," she chuckled and Danny heard a subtle hint of flirting in her voice. "I don't let my parents say it so I'm certainly not going to admit it to the…most handsome guy I've ever uh…met."

Danny couldn't believe it. She was flirting, and he was enjoying it.

"Fine, I'll never mention it again," he promised, casting his gaze down again and it landed on all the exotic-fun-loving vacations sitting before him. "You know Belle, that's probably a lot of handsomer guys you can meet in Disneyland. I mean it's the happiest place on earth."

"Most definitely, guys are always coming around wondering why I'm being pushed around in a wheelchair, being supervised 100 under my mom's eagle eye that doesn't miss anything," Belle cursed, her anger flaring again.

"Well Mr. McCoy, you're doing really well here," he thought to himself. He suddenly realized that Belle's parents had done all this to try and cheer up their sick daughter, only because of the supervision and medical precaution, she hadn't had any fun at all. "No, I guess they couldn't ask you out, especially with your dad hovering around like that."

Belle finally grinned again and Danny felt better even if the comment had been sarcastic. "So after seeing the best vacations spots eve, what is this one fantasy that hasn't been fulfilled?"

Belle immediately looked down, laughing embarrassingly. "No, you don't' want to hear this."

"Yes, I do," Danny insisted, his brows drawn close over his deep hazel eyes.

"No, you really don't," she repeated, her voice lower, her cheeks flushed a deep plum shade.

"is this another thing you don't admit out of fear that it won't come true?" Danny hinted, not wanting to push any more of her buttons.

"No…it's just embarrassing. I mean, I grew up in Vegas and I , a Vegas girl, has the same dream of everyone who doesn't live in Vegas," she blurted out then covered her mouth. Danny could still hear her muttering, "oh god!"

"Hey, no one's dream is stupid except to the one who has it," Danny stated firmly. "I'm not going to laugh. Please…tell me."

Belle stared at her hands and realized Danny had taken hold of one of them to calm them. But his touch shook her more and her heart was thudding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She was relieved that Danny didn't seem to notice.

"Okay," she began and told Danny about how her dad had crushed on her mom who'd gotten a curable cancer but that her dad wasn't taking any chances. He had whisked her out of the hospital, somehow gotten to Las Vegas, eloped despite their parents wishes. "But the miracle is that when dad finally convinced mom to check herself into the hospital, the doctor told her that he couldn't explain it but she'd entered remission. Mom told me that the doctor asked her if she'd entered into the faith and she replied, "yeah…but not the one you're thinking of." Belle continued, smiling at the memory of her mother constantly telling her this story when things got bad to convince her that as long as she held on, she could create her own miracle. "My dad even won the jackpot that night they wed. 80.000!"

Danny now understood what this was all about. She was scared. She wanted to find this Mister right who could make all her problems go way, just like her dad had done for her mother.

And apparently she didn't believe she had that much time if she was desperately trying to find him before her eighteenth birthday.

The only con to hearing the story was that the thirty-two year old former marine tough guy felt even worse now that he'd heard it. He didn't have the power to make her sickness just disappear and even Harry Potter couldn't waive his wand and create her a mister right.

"Belle…you know I would…"

"I know," she cut in, flashing him a sweet smile. "And don't worry, I wasn't expecting anything by telling you. I know you're not God and that you can't make my life perfect. I'm not disappointed."

But Danny could tell from her voice that just for a smidgen of a moment, Belle had the hope that he could make this all better and by admitting he couldn't do anything, he'd let her down.

If Ed was watching, he was never going to let him hear the end of it. And now, if he decided to ask him to let him take over another case, he could rub this incident in his face.

The sound of the chair squeaking and Belle coming to a stand interrupted her thoughts. "Belle?"

"I really appreciated your company, Danny McCoy," she told him, grinning broadly. "It's been a long time that a cute guy I talked to wasn't an intern or a substitute provider. But…I understand now, and as I'm sick, being here today has worn me out. Do you think Big Ed will be okay with his having his protégé drive me home?"

Danny got to his feet then put his coat over Belle's bare shoulders and nodded as he joined her side. "Of course I'll drive you home."

"Even if Ed has a problem with it," he thought to himself as he knocked on the door, signaling the body guards to let them out."

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AWWWWWW! How sad was that! And How sweet Was Danny! You're not going to believe to what lengths this favorite security guard is going to go to help out this girl! Please review to let me know you're reading and as always,thanks for the support!

Total Vartan Lover


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